NuggLove continues the Denver Nuggets all-time list with some familiar and iconic faces, as well as a couple of ABA studs.
10. Marcus Camby
Career with the Denver Nuggets: 372 games, 31.7 minutes, 10.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists 1.1 steals, 3.0 blocks .462% FG, .715% FT
Career Accolades: NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2007), 2x NBA All-Defensive First Team, 2x NBA All-Defensive Second Team, 3x NBA Blocks Leader
Marcus Camby, similar to T.R. Dunn, wasn’t the greatest contributor on offense, but defensively, ranks among the best Nuggets ever.
From 1998-2002, Camby was a valuable piece for the New York Knicks. He helped them reach the NBA Finals as an 8th seed during the 1998-99 NBA season, and filled in nicely for Patrick Ewing when he tore his Achilles in the Eastern Conference Finals. That said, Camby solidified himself as one of the best defenders in the league during his time in Denver.
The Denver Nuggets sent Antonio McDyess and picks to the Knicks for Camby in 2003, one season before Carmelo Anthony was drafted. Camby missed the majority of his first season with the Nuggets, playing in just 29 games, but the next season, he returned and led the Nuggets in blocks (2.6) and rebounds (10.1).
Camby was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2007 when he led the league in blocks (3.3), was 5th in rebounds (11.7) and 3rd in defensive rating. Camby led the NBA in blocks three times while he was in Denver and ranks 6th all-time in rebounds, 2nd in blocks and 4th in Box +/- for the Denver franchise.
9. Bobby Jones
Career with the Nuggets: 324 games, 32.1 minutes, 14.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.9 blocks .583% FG, .715% FT
Career Accolades: 2x NBA All-Star, 2x NBA All-Defensive First Team, 1x ABA All-Star, All-ABA Second Team (1976), 2x ABA All-Defensive First Team, ABA All-Rookie First Team (1975)
Bobby Jones is mostly known for his time as a sixth man in Philadelphia, helping the Sixers win an NBA Championship in 1983, but Jones was two-time All-Star in Denver before being shipped off to the City of Brotherly Love.
During Jones’ rookie season, he ranked 5th in the ABA in steals and blocks, 17th in rebounds and led the league in field goal percentage.
Jones’ nickname was “The Secretary of Defense,” and rightfully so. Jones made four All-Defensive First Teams during his time in Denver (two in ABA and two in the NBA) and collected the sixth most steals from the years 1975-1978 (his years in Denver).
Jones’ best individual season likely came during the 1975-76 league year. Jones averaged 14.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.2 blocks, the only player to average two steals and two blocks that season. The Nuggets finished 60-24 but lost to the New York Nets in the ABA Finals.
Jones ranks 6th in steals and 4th in blocks all-time for the Denver Nuggets.
8. Larry Jones
Career with the Rockets: 226 games, 40.5 minutes, 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, .443% FG, .238% 3PT, .782% FT
Career Accolades: 3x ABA All-Star, 3x All-ABA First Team
Larry Jones was the first All-Star and first All-ABA player in Denver franchise history.
Jones played one season in the NBA with the Sixers and two seasons in the EBL before making his way to the Denver Rockets for their first season in the ABA. That year, Jones averaged 22.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Jones made the Western Division All-Star Team and was selected to the All-ABA First Team at the end of the season.
The following season, Jones upped his scoring average to a league-high 28.4 points per game and once again made the All-Star Game and the All-ABA First Team.
In Jones’ final season with the Rockets, he averaged 24.9 points per game playing alongside the MVP of the league Spencer Haywood. Jones made the All-ABA First Team for the third and final time of his career and became the first player to reach 5,000 points in the ABA.
Jones’ 25.4 career scoring average ranks 3rd all-time for the Denver franchise and he played a large part in helping the Denver Nuggets reach the playoffs in each of their first three seasons in the ABA.
7. Nikola Jokić
Career with the Nuggets: 373 games, 29.0 minutes, 16.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.7 blocks .524% FG, .338% 3PT, .825% FT
Career Accolades: 2x NBA All-Star, All-NBA First Team, NBA All-Rookie First Team
“The Joker” was a second-round pick for the Nuggets in the 2014 NBA Draft, but has already become a top-10 player for the Nuggets in just five seasons.
During his rookie season, Jokić started 55 games for the Nuggets and averaged 10.0 points and 7.4 rebounds a game and was selected to the All-Rookie First Team.
During his sophomore season, Jokić upped his averages to 16.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and began to showcase his tremendous passing ability dishing out 4.9 assists a night. Had the MVP not recorded one of the most historic triple-doubles in NBA history during the Nuggets’ third to last game of the season, Denver could have made the playoffs that year. The Nuggets finished 40-42 that season and ninth in the Western Conference.
The Nuggets just missed out on the playoffs the following season after losing a play-in game to the Minnesota Timberwolves on the final night of the NBA season. But Jokić continued to show signs of improvement during his third year in the league.
Jokić was selected to his first All-Star game during the 2018-19 season when he averaged 20.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists. The Nuggets finished as the 2nd seed in the Western Conference and during his first two playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trailblazers, Jokić averaged 25.1 points, 13.0 rebounds and 8.4 assists a game.
Before the 2019-20 NBA season was suspended, Jokić was averaging 20.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists. He was named an All-Star reserve yet again and likely would have made either the All-NBA First Team or All-NBA Second Team at the end of the season.
Jokić already ranks 10th in rebounds and 7th in assists for the Nuggets’ franchise and his 24.9 career PER is the highest in Nuggets’ history.
Jokić agreed to a five-year, $148 million contract extension in June of 2018. Barring a trade or a major unforeseen injury, Jokić has a realistic chance at becoming one of, if not, the best Denver Nugget of all time.
6. Dikembe Mutombo
Career with the Nuggets: 391 games, 36.9 minutes, 12.9 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.6 steals, 3.8 blocks .523% FG, .650% FT
Career Accolades: 3x NBA All-Star, NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1995), 1x NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1995), NBA All-Rookie First Team (1992), 3x NBA Blocks Leader
As great as Jokić has been for the Nuggets, Dikembe Mutombo is still arguably the best center in franchise history.
Drafted with the fourth overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft, Mutombo was who made the Nuggets relevant again during the early and mid-1990s.
During his rookie season, Mutombo averaged 16.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks (5th in the NBA) and made the Western Conference All-Star Team. Although the Nuggets missed the playoffs during his first two seasons, Mutombo was quickly becoming one of the best defenders in the NBA.
During the 1993-94 season, the Denver Nuggets were the youngest team in the NBA and made the playoffs as the 8th seed in the Western Conference. The Nuggets first round matchup was against the first-seeded Seattle SuperSonics. The Sonics had the best record in the NBA and were led by All-NBA Second Team forward Shawn Kemp and All-NBA Third Team point guard Gary Payton.
The Nuggets dropped the first two games of the series and needed to win three straight games to move on to the next round. Mutombo averaged 12.3 points, 14.6 rebounds and 7.3 blocks in the Nuggets’ final three games, and two massive blocks on Detlef Schrempf and Kemp in the final minute-and-a-half of Game 5 helped the Nuggets secure a victory in Seattle.
The series remains one of the biggest upsets in NBA history and Mutombo’s 31 blocks in the series is the most denials during any 5-game series in NBA history.
Mutombo was the Defensive Player of the Year the following season and his 4.5 blocks a game during the 1995-96 season was the 6th highest average in NBA history.
Mutombo ranks 10th all-time in minutes for the Denver Nuggets, 3rd in rebounds and his 1,486 blocks is the most in franchise history.